Florida and Auburn are rebuilding. Georgia could win 10 games—and it would be the easiest 10-win season in the history of the league. The Dawgs will have played the regular season without facing any of the top three teams in the conference.

South Carolina can’t score without injured TB Marcus Lattimore (and was having problems on offense with him). Mississippi State has underachieved, and Tennessee—once mighty Tennessee—hasn’t won a conference game this fall. Kentucky and Ole Miss? Putrid.

Then there’s Vanderbilt and fiery and excitable coach James Franklin, who a few weeks ago uttered words that will live in SEC infamy. Or something like that.

“The days of Vanderbilt backing down,” Franklin said after a scuffle at the end of a hard-fought loss to Georgia, “are over.”

When Vandy is talking smack—by the way, I love Franklin’s moxie—you’ve got issues in the biggest, baddest league in the land. Issues that even the game of the year can’t hide.

So who, you ask, is No. 1? It’s not the Big 12 (please, some defense) or the Pac-12 (new model just like the old: top-heavy). It’s—take a deep breath SEC faithful—Jim Delany’s Big Ten. Top to bottom, the Big Ten is deeper and better than any other league.

Now, of course, that doesn’t mean Alabama or LSU would not wipe the floor with anyone in the Big Ten—or any other league, for that matter—because they would. Doesn’t matter who plays the SEC champ in the BCS National Championship Game; they’ll be a double-digit underdog.

The hot topic buzzing the interweb is the LSU-Alabama rematch in the BCS National Championship Game.

Meanwhile, we’re missing a potentially more destructive scenario: the possibility of a three-way tie in the SEC West Division. Don’t think it can’t happen.

LSU beats Alabama (of course the Tigers are winning Saturday in Tuscaloosa), beats Ole Miss and loses to Arkansas on Nov. 25. Alabama wins at Mississippi State and at Auburn, and you have a three-way tie for first place in the West (Alabama beat Arkansas earlier this year).

How is the tie broken? The lovely BCS points system. The highest-ranked team earns a spot in the SEC championship game.

That team will be Arkansas—which will have beaten No. 9 South Carolina and No. 1 LSU in the final month of the season. The Hogs would jump Alabama by virtue of their victory over LSU.

Think about that. We’re a day away from the game of the year, and all we need are two very possible events (LSU over Alabama, Arkansas over LSU) to keep both LSU and Alabama out of the BCS National Championship Game.

3. The trap is set

Here, everyone, is the definition of sandwich game:

Unbeaten Stanford, coming off a triple overtime victory over USC—after the Trojans fumbled away a game that may have gone three more overtimes the way the defenses were playing—rolls into Oregon State this weekend in a game that should be a laugher.

Already this season, the Beavers (2-6) have lost to FCS Sacramento State and their only Pac-12 victory is against lightweight Washington State. Utah got its first Pac-12 victory last week by dominating Oregon State in Salt Lake City.

So here comes Stanford, emotionally drained from the USC game and trying to get through this weekend before playing host to—wait for it—Oregon next weekend in the game of the year, Part II.

4. The turnover story

I’m still not sure which number is more impressive: that Oklahoma State has forced a nation-leading 29 turnovers this season—or that it has given away just 10 in 642 plays?

This fun little forced-turnover ride will end soon enough for Oklahoma State. And when it does, when the Cowboys struggle to get short fields and easy points and force their opponent into an uncomfortable rhythm, that’s when the 111th-ranked defense gets exposed.

This week: Kansas State, which has given away eight turnovers this fall. The same Kansas State team that thrives in the run-oriented, tempo-forcing zone read offense with QB Collin Klein: 1,754 total yards (762 rushing) and 24 TDs (16 rushing).

I’m just saying, people.

5. A moment of redemption

Just when it looked safe for Oklahoma to start dreaming again about playing for it all, we give you Texas A&M.

The same Aggies that last year beat the Sooners by two touchdowns, and are coming off a crushing loss at Missouri that ended any hope of winning the Big 12. Texas A&M has the balance on offense to press OU’s not-nearly-as-good-as-the-statistics-say defense, and a defensive coordinator (Tim DeRuyter) who knows how to stop the Sooners’ offense.

This can go one of two ways: the Aggies rebound from a loss and play with passion, or they tank and struggle to win seven games after three heartbreaking defeats (Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Missouri) where they blew 17-, 18- and 14-point leads, respectively.